Official Misconduct, Exoneree Race, and the Length of Time from False Conviction to Exoneration

We investigated the interaction of official misconduct (OM) committed by criminal justice officials and race of the defendant in the context of the length of time from conviction to exoneration. We included in our study cases from 1989 to 2020 from the National Registry of Exonerations (NRE), which compiles in its database exonerations accomplished both with and without DNA evidence. Analysis revealed that there does exist an interaction effect of OM and race of the defendant. The timeframe from conviction to exoneration was longest when the case involved both OM and a Black exoneree. Our results indicate that official misconduct and exoneree race, as well as the interaction of these two variables, are important factors in the exoneration timeframe

The Heat Shock Response, Heat Tolerance, and Drosophila Melanogaster Nora Virus

The heat shock response (HSR) is highly conserved across the animal kingdom and is characterized by the activation of heat shock factors (HSF) and the subsequent induction of inducible heat shock proteins (HSP). The HSR and associated HSPs have been implicated in a variety of disease states. In this project, we explored two aspects of this response. First., we expanded the scope of the Drosophila melanogaster heat tolerance phenotype by involving an automated measure of activity. We discovered that heat hardening reduces motility during subsequent heat stress, and we provide evidence that the level of relative early motility can predict later loss of motility as a thermal limit. Specifically, we developed an automated phenotyping technique that can be used to explore multiple aspects of heat tolerance in small insects, such as D. melanogaster, utilizing the Drosophila Activity Monitor (DAM2) system from TriKinetics. Second, we explored the role of the HSR and HSPs during Drosophila melanogaster Nora virus (DmNV) infection. We showed that treatment with an HSP90 inhibitor reduces estimates of viral load in vivo. We also showed that treatment with an HSF inhibitor and exposing flies to a heat shock prior to infection changes the course of infection, such that the HSR tended to protect against infection, as did HSF treatment. However, when combined, heat shock and HSF-inhibition significantly interacted, leading to higher estimates of viral load. Finally, we showed that DmNV infection significantly upregulates the expression of HSP90 and HSP40 in vivo, substantiating a role for the HSR during viral infection in D. melanogaster. The work produced by this project offers novel insight into two aspects of the HSR. Further, the work is also methodological, in the sense that the methods are thoroughly described and validated such that they can be implemented an expanded in future investigations

My Career Journey

Dr. Rokusek currently serves as Assistant Dean for Research and Innovation, Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Prior to joining Nova, Dr. Rokusek served as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of South Dakota, School of Medicine. She served as Professor and Dean of Education at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota and Dean of Health Professions at Governors State University in Illinois and at Florida Gulf University in Ft. Myers, Fl serving as the first dean to bring all of the 5 health professions program in the newly established university to full professional accreditation by the respective accrediting organizations. Dr. Rokusek has secured over 80 million dollars in external funding during her career. She has authored over 65 publications, book chapters, and manuscripts in the area of nutrition, interprofessional education and practice, and disaster and emergency preparedness for vulnerable populations. Dr. Rokusek served as the national president of the American Association of Allied Health School Deans and President of the Nutrition Division for American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In 1995 Dr. Rokusek was recognized by the Chicago Sun Times as one of the “Ten Most Influential Women in Illinois.” Dr. Rokusek is the founder and architect of the newly established M.S. in Nutrition degree at NSU. She is fluent in both the Czech and Slovak languages and currently serves as Honorary Consul for the Slovak Republic in Florida and is a member of the Miami Consular Corps

An analysis of computational errors in the use of the division algorithm in the fourth grade

Division i s considered by many teachers to be one of the most difficult skills in an elementary school mathematics curriculum (Holland, 1942). This study explored the first step of diagnostic teaching in division; identifying errors made by students. The study was specifically tailored to fourth grade students and their use of the division algorithm on the set of whole numbers. Research has shown that in the case of systematic errors, the child will continue to use the algorithm incorrectly if not corrected (Cox , 1974). Grossnickle (1936) concluded Almost 60% of the total number of errors which will impede pupil progress in long division with a one-figure divisor were systemtic. (p. 368) Therefore, research on the detection and analysis of systematic errors is of educational importance. It is useful to distinguish a careless error pattern from a systematic error pattern because the remedial procedures will be quite different. Yhen dealing with systematic errors, no matter how many times the child works the problem, he/she will probably make the same mistake. Using a sample of 25 randomly selected test papers from a population of 57 fourth grade students, errors from a thirty-item test were classified as random , careless, or systematic. iv Systematic errors comprised 39% of the total errors and these were further categorized into six error groups. Faulty or incomplete procedures; 30%, and regrouping; 25%, were the most common systematic errors. These were followed by zero/identity concept; 18%, place value; 16%, and remainder; 11%. No basic fact errors were found in the tests analyzed in this study

Excitation of Langmuir wave turbulence in high-frequency (HF) pump waves over Gakona, Alaska

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, February 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 53).(cont.) Investigated in this thesis are the excitation and observation of Langmuir wave turbulence caused by the parametric decay instability (PDI) in high-frequency space plasma heating experiments conducted at the NSF/DoD High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska during the spring and summer of 2006. The PDI is the decay of an electromagnetic (EM) wave into an electron plasma wave (i.e., Langmuir wave) and an ion acoustic wave. When the excited Langmuir wave parametrically decays into another Langmuir and ion acoustic wave pair, a cascade of Langmuir waves can occur provided that the instability threshold is satisfied. According to recently advanced theory by Kuo and Lee [2005], there are two possible methods of cascade: non-resonant and resonant. While the non-resonant cascade proceeds at the location of excitation, the resonant process occurs at lower altitudes to minimize losses that the non-resonant process incurs by remaining at the excitation altitude. Such losses are caused by the frequency mismatch effect, as the decay ion acoustic wave frequency becomes much less than that of the normal ion acoustic waves. In their downward propagation the Langmuir waves in the resonant cascade suffer from propagation losses, however these losses are less than those associated with the non-resonant process. The resonant process is therefore expected to have a lower threshold. Theoretical claims and calculations are compared to observations made at Arecibo, Puerto Rico and Tromso, Norway. Claims are also are supported by incoherent backscatter radar observations made at the HAARP facility in Gakona.by Daniel L. Rokusek.S.M

Assessing User Experiences with ZORQ: A Gamification Framework for Computer Science Education

ZORQ is a gamification software framework designed to increase student engagement within undergraduate Computer Science (CS) education. ZORQ is an attractive learning method that (1) utilizes numerous gamification elements, (2) provides a collaborative, game-development based learning approach, (3) offers an opportunity for students to explore a complex, real-world software development implementation, and (4) provides students with a high level of engagement with the system and a high level of social engagement in its collaborative customization. The usage of ZORQ was assessed using quantitative, qualitative and sentiment analyses in a Data Structures and Algorithms course over five years. The overwhelmingly positive results show that students were satisfied with their user experience and ZORQ was beneficial to their educational experience. By triangulating results from multiple analyses, this study adds to a deeper understanding of how gamification can improve learning and retention and provides a novel, robust, holistic methodology for evaluating user experiences

Creating an Ongoing Sustainable Culture of Interprofessional Education and Practice

Objectives: Discuss the attitude, knowledge, and skill challenges to address for students, faculty and community clinician in implementing both interprofessional education and practice Discuss the ongoing work of the university Interprofessional Education Collaborative Discuss ongoing efforts in evaluation and culture assessmen